"Aligning & Inspiring Employees"Communication: The sending and receiving of information. In an organization, it is a critical enabler of all things. It is both formal and informal, both broad and interpersonal, and best when it's two-way, offering opportunities for exploration. True alignment of an organization is much more difficult. Even when we get it right, it’s hard. Our business is increasingly complex, and with that complexity, the possibility of misunderstanding, misinterpretation and missed opportunities grows exponentially. Research shows that communication clarity drops 20 percent every time information is exchanged — and we exchange a LOT of information. So, what do we think we need to do as internal communicators today? What needs to change?Featured Presenter: Melissa McVicker, Director of Employee Communications, Intel.

"Purpose Driven Leadership and how it is Transforming SunTrust"Making the decision to be a purpose-driven organization is not always a popular one, and it requires purpose-driven leaders who understand how to affect change in organizations. Discover the steps that SunTrust took to uncover its purpose and have it become the predominant strategic compass for the bank. You will learn how SunTrust is aligning practices with purpose and leading a movement to "Financial Well-Being" for teammates, clients and the communities it serves.Featured Presenters: Chuck Allen, Senior Vice President, Change Management, SunTrust Banks, Inc. and Rilla Delorier, Chief Marketing and Client Experience Officer, SunTrust Banks, Inc.

Click to Enter: Opening New Doors to Employee Engagement [Conference Presentation] Today, old ways of doing business are not only out of date and out of touch, they're unsustainable. The stuffy, sectioned-off approach to work no longer reflects what's going on inside or outside organizations, where innovation and knowledge sharing are critical components of success and staying power. Discover how SAS, ranked among the top three companies on Fortune Magazine's "Best Places to Work" list for the past three years, blends the rapid pace of new technology integration with the timeless importance of helping employees stay productive, knowledgeable and connected.Featured Presenter: Becky Graebe, Internal Communications Manager, SAS.

"Inside GM: Engaging Employees Before, During & After a Crisis"General Motors' emergence from bankruptcy has resulted in a stronger company. Learn how GM Communications partnered with leaders to turn adversity into opportunity, using a variety of tools to engage employees every step of the way. Featured Presenter: Katie McBride, Executive Director, General Motors.

"Your Audience Never Leaves: Digital Tools to Support Live Interactions"Working with a company to engage and activate employees used to be a job that started and ended with in-person interactions. Today's business dynamics, such as globalized workforces or home-based employees, demand a lot more. Concepts and ideas that are introduced in-person now must extend into the digital space, both in the days, weeks and months leading up to the introduction, but just as importantly, in time that follows. Mike Standish will talk about the strategies and digital tools that companies such as Microsoft, PayPal and Sephora use to extend live experiences and make them more meaningful to employees and consumers. Also, he’ll discuss how driving up awareness, participation and value requires thinking beyond the event itself, and constructing online, mobile and other experiences that deepen an employee's connection with the brand and or company.Featured Presenter: Mike Standish, Senior Director of Content Strategy, PBJS Seattle.

Connecting Candidates and New Hires to the Employer Brand [Conference Presentation]Recruitment doesn’t end once the acceptance letter is signed. Everyone from a potential candidate to a seasoned employee should be actively engaged with an employer’s brand. Allison Bunin, senior director of internal communications at the North Shore-LIJ Health System, understands the importance of keeping new employees connected to the employer experience and has launched a full platform of social tools and online communities to engage, inform and align employees even before they start working. Learn how to engage new hires through social media and storytelling, from New York’s third-largest employer with 45,000 employees.Featured Presenter: Allison Bunin, Assistant Vice President, Internal Communications, North Shore-LIJ Health System.

"Drive Systemic Change Beyond Social Media"If you're encouraging your employees to participate in social media, why don't they? And when they do, how can you increase the odds that they'll do it well? We’ve learned that social media is just one dimension of a social business. It's not simply about the platforms you use, but the employees' voices you amplify, the motivations you create, and the policies and systems that support the recruitment and training of social media savvy employees. We know that the value comes from providing authentic human interactions in the digital space, and we have some ideas for how to do it. Featured Presenter: Ben Edwards, Vice President, Digital Strategy and Development, IBM.

The Digital Divide: Global Engagement at all Levels [Conference Presentation] Started in 2011, the “I Am Mission Zero” project set out to research, record and share the company’s sustainability journey as a way to understand employee connections to this higher purpose and reinforce them. Using documentary film-making, Interface traveled to 6 factories on four continents recording dialogue with factory employees to explore their connection to this bold sustainability vision. In addition, Interface has just completed a successful 90-day pilot for a social media platform for wired associates that has received a green light for funding to extend to all employees globally.And although there is much work still to be done, the company has taken away some key learnings.Featured Presenters: Bruce Brooks, Director of Associate Communications, Americas Division, Interface, Inc. and Steve Arbaugh, Vice President, Creative Strategy and Planning, Interface, Inc.

Do It Like Marketers Do — Treating Employees as a Key Audience [Conference Presentations] The marketing department has all the fun — exciting trips, big expense accounts and cool tools. Take advantage of the latter, at least, to keep employees not just informed, but engaged. Today’s most successful digital marketers are likely taking advantage of marketing automation technology to distribute personalized and relevant messaging to guide their customers down desired paths. In this session, Silverpop’s Product Strategist Ellen Valentine will illustrate how this same technology can be leveraged to enhance employee communications and create a more engaged culture — improving employee satisfaction while also driving business results.Featured Presenter: Ellen Valentine, Product Strategist, SilverPop.

"People-Powered Brands: Empowering a Tribe of Internal Advocates"It’s time to unlearn everything you’ve previously thought about your organization’s internal structure. Geno Church of Brains on Fire will show you how to dig deep into the “why” of your brand — to embark on a journey toward igniting an internal shared purpose, and an internal advocacy. The result? A “people powered brand” — from your CEO down to the mailroom — that spreads their passion for your company, brand or service beyond your office walls.Featured Presenter: Geno Church, Word-of-Mouth Inspiration Officer, Brains on Fire.

"Lilly Diabetes: Using Socialization to Become a Global Leader"Beginning in 1923, Eli Lilly and Company began developing solutions for patients with diabetes. Over the years, it became known as a market leader in diabetes care. However, as the company grew, its focus expanded to include a wider portfolio of therapies to address multiple health issues. In 2009, the company created Lilly Diabetes as a stand-alone business unit to recommit to diabetes leadership. In this session, you will learn how Lilly Diabetes used online and offline social interactions to engage its employees in working toward a singular goal of becoming the world's leading diabetes company by 2020.Featured Presenter: Edrice Simmons, Senior Brand Director, Global Commercialization, Eli Lilly and Company

"Unleashing Employee Potential"Transforming a culture, pivoting a business model, re-engineering process, sparking innovation and driving revenue growth all require the participation and engagement of your colleagues. Old methods of top-down edicts by memo have limited utility in creating a compelling vision for your firm that employees understand and will fight for. In this session, learn how Marsh, a 141 year-old insurance broker, is leveraging new thinking in internal communications and employee engagement, to activate colleagues by removing barriers to the fulfillment of their potential.Featured Presenter: Ben Brooks, Former Senior Vice President and Global Director, Marsh Inc.

"Internal and External Rebranding: Connecting the Dots and the People"ITT, one of the world's most esteemed companies and brands for the past century, spun itself off into three separate businesses on (of all days) Halloween 2011. Employees, distributors, customers and stockholders needed to be reintroduced, quickly, to the "new ITT" and what it stands for. To successfully accomplish these goals, the rebranding of the"100-year-old startup" took place with the help of digital and social media strategies that engaged employees and other key audiences, and led to a year of sales increases, stronger brand preference and stock market gains. Anthony D'Angelo will present this case study demonstrating how even an old-line manufacturing company can apply social media strategies to rebrand itself inside and out.Featured Presenter: Anthony D'Angelo, APR, Fellow PRSA, Senior Manager, Communications, ITT.